“No,” I said quickly. “I don’t know why they’re here, but I don’t think we need to be afraid of them.”

Probably.

“What do you want me to do?” Hannah asked.

“I’ll go out and talk to them,” I said, running a hand through my hair nervously. “You wait inside and make sure the girls stay out of it. And remember—the Reapers aren’t the ones who threw me into the truck. They might be scary but they didn’t actually do anything to hurt me.”

“If I ever see Rebel again, I’m shooting him. For the record.”

I snorted. “If Rebel’s smart, he’s headed for the hills. And knowing your luck, you’d shoot yourself in the foot if you had a gun.”

“That’s why I don’t have one,” Hannah admitted, peeking through the window again. “He’s off his bike and headed for the door. Go see what he wants. I’ll watch from in here and call the cops if they pull anything. Sound like a good plan?”

“Not really. You know I hate cops.”

“Okay, then. I’ll call your fairy godmother and ask her to rescue you.”

I rolled my eyes, flipping her off as I stepped out the door.

Chapter Eight

I stepped out onto the old wooden porch, shutting the door behind me. Shade was almost across the lawn, although his fellow bikers were staying put. I guessed that was one small mercy.

“Why are you here?” I asked bluntly.

“Figured you’d need a ride to work,” he replied. “Seeing as you had to leave your car at the bar last night.”

“I don’t actually have a car,” I admitted. “I usually ride my bike to work.”

Shade raised a brow. “You ride? I only ever saw you with Rebel. Don’t tell me you gave up—”

“No!” I said, rolling my eyes. “Not a motorcycle. A bicycle. You know, the kind with pedals? That’s how I get to work.”

Shade’s face turned serious. “You ride a bicycle home at two in the morning from the Pit?”

“Only on the busiest weekends,” I said, shrugging. “We’re usually closed by ten or eleven during the week. And what do you think’s going to happen in Violetta anyway? Worst case, I get attacked by a deer.”

He opened his mouth for a second, then closed it again, staring at me like I was some kind of exotic beast in a zoo. I frowned.

“I had a car,” I told him. “But it was a piece of shit and I needed cash to move here, so I sold it. I’ll get a new one at some point. Right now I’m focused on helping my sister, and it’s only a couple miles to the Pit. No big deal.”

“This isn’t some city with bus lines and taxis,” he said. “You can’t just not have a car.”

“And yet I don’t,” I said lightly. “So far, the car fairies haven’t delivered one. Maybe they will tomorrow, but for today I’ll go ahead and ride my bike.”

Shade gave a low growl, which I decided to ignore.

“You told me your sister has kids—what does she do when they need to see the doctor?”

I looked away because it was a problem I’d been more than a little worried about. We needed to get the van up and running again, and soon. But we also needed to pay the power bill and buy food.

“There’s always the ambulance,” I said, smiling weakly. Shade shook his head slowly. “Her ex’s parents have a car. I suppose we could borrow that if we really needed to.”

“You gotta get this worked out, babe,” he told me, his voice serious. “Violetta’s a great little town, but there’s not enough here for you to live without a vehicle.”

No shit.

“Gee, thanks for pointing that out,” I snapped, feeling defensive. “I guess I didn’t understand until now that we were in a tough situation.”

“Mandy, I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to—”

“No,” I said, holding up a hand. “You don’t get to come in here and judge us. Hannah’s doing everything she can to give her kids a good life. She stayed in Violetta because her ex is a bastard but his parents aren’t. They own the trailer and they let us live here for free, which is huge. Not only that, they’re the girls’ grandparents and they adore them. We move away from here, we move away from the only family they’ve got, and as someone who doesn’t have much family myself, I know what a big deal that is. We’ll get the car fixed and we’ll get things figured out, but the last thing I want is some man in here trying to tell me what to do. Men cause problems—they don’t solve them.”

I took a deep breath, crossing my arms defiantly, waiting for him to argue.

“Okay,” Shade said, nodding slowly.

“All right,” I replied, feeling off balance. “I’m going back inside to get ready for work.”

“Great, you can introduce me to your sister.”

“What part of ‘go away’ are you not getting?” I asked, genuinely confused. “Have I done anything to encourage you? I don’t want a man. I’ve had men and they cause nothing but trouble. The last one I had tried to trade me for a motorcycle, remember? The one before that got me—never mind. Let’s just say he made Rebel look good.”

“Glad to know the bar is set low,” he said. “Makes it easier for me. You got a ride to work tonight?”

“No.”

“So you’re going to walk.”

“Yes.”

“Wouldn’t it be less work to catch a ride, seeing as I’m right here and it’s because of me that you don’t have your bicycle? Not that I’m accepting blame—that’s on Rebel—but it’s not your fault you got caught up in any of this. Your situation is tough—you admit that. Why turn down someone offering you help just because he happens to have a dick?”

I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it because what he’d said made sense. Not only that, a ride would be nice.

“You promise you don’t have any ulterior motives here?” I asked, and Shade laughed, shaking his head.

“Baby, you know damned well I have ulterior motives. I want to fuck you—think I’ve been clear on that point. But the fact is, you need a ride, I’m right here and either way the evening’s gonna end the same. You’ll spend the night serving drinks, I’ll order a few, at some point I’ll probably drag you into the back room and make out with you for a while, and then I’ll leave you the tip you should’ve gotten last night.”